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From Sagging to Success: The Story of Emery Franklin by author/publisher Florence M. Howard chronicles the African American experience from slavery to the election of President Barack Obama as seen through the eyes of Memphis-born fine artist Emery Franklin.

The 80-page nonfiction book contains 15 original, full-color prints and is a unique blend of pop culture, history, and biography with a touch of inspiration. The series of paintings first debuted during a month-long exhibit at the Benjamin L. Hooks Memphis Central Library during Black History Month, February 2011.

The first of the 15 paintings by Emery Franklin, The Black Man shows an ex-slave after the Emancipation Proclamation on the shores of Africa, having arrived there in a boat he built himself. The second painting shows a modern-day teenager with sagging pants looking over a scene from the 1940s when many Southern blacks were sharecroppers. Painting number three focuses on the voting struggle and civil rights movement. It depicts a blood-stained arm at the ballot box. In several of the paintings, the young man is an observer studying Black history, immersing himself in world history and becoming aware of himsel -- how he thinks, how he dresses. In other paintings, he is the focal point. Given the name, Derrick, he longs to be successful and by Chapter 14 (which features the last of the original paintings in the series), he and his family have attained financial, spiritual and emotional success. Each chapter in the book is successively geared toward a painting from Emery Frankin's "Crossroads: From Sagging to Success" oil painting series.